The 1941–42 NHL season was the 25th season of the National Hockey League. Seven teams played 48 games each. The Toronto Maple Leafs would win the Stanley Cup defeating the Detroit Red Wings winning four straight after losing the first three in a best-of-seven series.

League business

This season was the last season for the New York Americans who changed their name to the Brooklyn Americans in an attempt to build a civic relationship with those from Flatbush area of New York.

Regular season

The Americans started the season without Harvey "Busher" Jackson who refused to sign. He was then sold to Boston. But the Amerks had two positive notes: two defencemen, Tommy Anderson and Pat Egan, were now All-Star calibre. That didn't prevent them from finishing last, though.

Frank Patrick suffered a heart attack and had to sell his interest in the Montreal Canadiens, and the Habs almost had to move to Cleveland. But Tommy Gorman kept the team alive. They added Emile "Butch" Bouchard to start his great career on defence and another very good player, Buddy O'Connor, at centre. Montreal had goaltending problems as Bert Gardiner slumped, and rookie Paul Bibeault replaced him. He showed flashes of brilliance, but his inexperience showed. Joe Benoit starred with 20 goals, the first Canadien to do that since 1938–39, when Toe Blake did it.

The New York Rangers had a new goaltender as Sugar Jim Henry replaced the retired Dave Kerr. Henry was one of the reasons the Rangers finished first, something they would not again do for the next 50 years.

Final standings

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes
Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, PTS = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes

Stanley Cup playoffs

Note: all dates in 1942

Playoff bracket

Quarter-finals

Boston Bruins vs. Chicago Black Hawks

Boston wins best-of-three series 2–1

Detroit Red Wings vs. Montreal Canadiens

Detroit wins best-of-three series 2–1

Semi-finals

New York Rangers vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

Toronto wins best-of-seven series 4–2

Boston Bruins vs. Detroit Red Wings

Detroit wins best-of-three series 2–0

Final

Main article: 1942 Stanley Cup Finals

Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Detroit Red Wings

Toronto wins best-of-seven series 4–3

NHL awards

All-Star teams

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1941–42 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

• Kenny Mosdell, Brooklyn Americans
• Harry Watson, Brooklyn Americans
• Bill Mosienko, Chicago Black Hawks
• Adam Brown, Detroit Red Wings
• Buddy O'Connor, Montreal Canadiens
• Emile "Butch" Bouchard, Montreal Canadiens
• Grant Warwick, New York Rangers
• Jim Henry, New York Rangers
• Bob Goldham, Toronto Maple Leafs
• Gaye Stewart*, Toronto Maple Leafs

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1941–42 (listed with their last team):

• Eddie Wiseman, Boston Bruins
• Tommy Anderson, Brooklyn Americans
• Art Coulter, New York Rangers

See also

• List of Stanley Cup champions
• 1941 in sports
• 1942 in sports

References

• Hockey Database
• NHL.com